A Prosthetic Arm That Feels

Is it possible for a prosthetic arm to feel temperature and texture - and communicate these sensations in some way to the user directly?

Surgeon and engineer Todd Kuiken gives a great TED talk to address these questions.

(TED talk by Todd Kuiken)

SF writers have been thinking about this for generations, and the fans have been waiting. The bionic arm imagined by Martin Caidin in his 1972 novel Cyborg had this capability:

"When you think to pick up an object, what happened before with your original arm is repeated. The electrical impulses generated by your brain command everything... The artificial muscles.. which in this case are silastic and vitallium pulleys, then contract, twist, and tighten. You can even sense with your fingertips..."